


Sisters Just Know

by Brunetterebel010



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Family, Homophobic Language, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Mentions of Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slurs, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-21 08:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3684873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brunetterebel010/pseuds/Brunetterebel010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ian came out to her, Mandy Milkovich reacted like someone who knew what it was like to be gay on the south side. Thanks to her brother, she knew she could help Ian out.<br/>Mandy knew Mickey was gay long before Ian Gallagher.<br/>Mandy knew when Mickey and Ian fell in love.<br/>Mandy knew how hard it was for Mickey.<br/>Because, sisters just know these things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a post from my Tumblr, which was based on a epiphany I had while watching a Gallavich video on youtube:  
> Tumblr Post: http://meg-thedemon-queenofheaven.tumblr.com/post/115325037878/ian-im-gay-ps-yay-for-shirty-phone-screencaps
> 
>  
> 
> Work in Progress and I'm a busy girl, but this shouldn't be a monster of a fic, so hopefully it will be done soon.  
> Obviously these characters don't belong to me, I make no money. This prologue is straight out of the show, after this it's some flashbacks and some actual original writing.

“You are a dead man Ian Gallagher” Mandy shouted, shaking a finger in his face. “Fucking. Dead.”  
“I’m gay.” Ian called to her. Mandy froze, instantly processing the possibilities.

1\. Ian Gallagher was lying. He just wanted her to call her brothers off. He was a coward and couldn’t face the consequences of his actions. Even if she had sort-of lied to her brothers about what those actions had been. You didn’t mess with a Milkovich, everybody knew that. 

2\. Ian Gallagher was lying. He was just trying to calm her down. He probably though being rejected had upset her, that he’d dealt a blow straight to her ego and made her feel like a desperate slut, an ugly piece of trash who would never find anyone who wanted to be with her, who couldn’t even get a guy interested in her with sex anymore, at least not an attractive, decent guy like Ian- a driven guy who had goals in life beyond ruining his liver and beating her senseless every time her saw her. Which was totally not true. Not even a little bit. 

3\. Ian Gallagher was telling the truth. He was gay. If he was telling the truth it was a huge truth to tell. Mandy knew how badly people get treated for something like that. Her dad’s favorite pass-time was fag-bashing. If Ian was gay she needed to help him. Keep him from assholes like Terry who had nothing better to do than hurt other people. She knew how hard being gay could be, she saw the fear her brother lived in every day, the way he took an extra-long, hot shower every time he came home from screwing some neighborhood whore to keep people from being suspicious. Mandy knew that if he was telling the truth, she had to do something to help him and it didn’t take her long to come up with something.

She turned around to face him and they ended up walking together as she questioned him, trying to decide if she believed him or not.  
“In this neighborhood? Why would I make that up?” He said when she asked again. It pulled at her, reminding her of Mickey and the fear in his eyes every time she tried to bring the subject up with him.  
“I won’t tell anyone” she promised. “It’s just, that I thought that maybe you were making this up so I’d call off my brothers, or I don’t know, maybe you think I’m like ugly or something.” She wanted to bite her tongue off. She sounded so pitiful and insecure.  
“Mandy, you’re beautiful.” Ian said, warming her heart. In that moment she decided she would help him any way she could. In the following moment when he stuck her hand to his crotch, and his hand on her boob to prove it to her, she knew they were going to be friends for a long time, she tried not to laugh at the ridiculous situation, because she knew he was trying to make a serious point, but it was odd all the same. But would Ian want her help?  
“I could pretend to be your girlfriend at school and stuff. Then no one would ever give you a hard time.” Ian looked touched at her offer. Mandy didn’t know what she could do to help her brother, but she could help Ian and that had to count for something, right?


	2. The First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I can’t seem to find any official confirmation of the ages/birth order of Milkovich children, (or even all of the correct names. Apparently there’s Iggy and Tony, and Jamie, but the wikia has one character who is linked as “Joey” but his page is title “Colin”) I haven’t finished all of the episodes yet (I’m watching 4x12 as I write this chapter, but I can’t seem to find it cleared up anywhere. So I like this head canon on tumbr (http://mickeyswaitingforme.tumblr.com/post/105065383220/milkovich-family-headcanon ) about ages, and I’m gonna go with this birth order.   
> Also, I’ve never been to jail and know nothing about Juvie, or crimes & punishments, so we’re gonna go with a few phrases from the show about Mickey’s experiences, and some bad online research about the process. Feedback is appreciated!  
> Without further ado here it is.

The first time Mickey Milkovich realize he might be gay, he was fourteen.  
It wasn’t the first time he’d bumped heads with the cops, but it was the first time they did more than threaten him by painting awful pictures of his future if he didn’t “straighten up.” 

It probably had something to do with the fact that his idiot fucking brother had pulled a gun on a cashier, instead of just taking the food they had agreed they needed and hauling ass out of the corner store. Everyone on the south side knew Terry was a deadbeat dad, and most of them were sympathetic enough to let the little Milkovich brats have a bite to eat. That bitch Linda at the Kash & Grab was a pain, but her pushover husband was never a problem. This time however, some new prick had taken over their favorite spot and he threatened to call the cops if they didn’t pay for the stuff before they left the store. How was Mickey supposed to know fucking Iggy had a gun stashed in his waistband? Or that he’d be stupid enough to wave it at the guy and try to steal money. 

So there he was. Thirteen years old sitting in a cell accused of “accessory to armed robbery and aggravated assault” as well as shoplifting. Fuckin Iggy was a fucking moron. Mickey sat in a holding cell waiting to find out what was going to happen to him and angrily muttering to himself about all of the awful things he was going to do to Iggy when he saw him. 

“Milkovich” a voice echoed through the hall as the locked snapped open and an officer stepped inside. “Get your ass up and follow me.”  
The public defender and the judge talked over his head at the hearing. He gathered that Iggy had taken the heat, and would be spending at least a year in lock-up. His punishment was 30-days and probation that meant he couldn’t skip class to get high behind the gym for the rest of 7th grade. He probably should have been grateful, but he was just pissed.

One seeming eternity in hell later the kicked back into the world and he landed on the couch with Mandy and a case of Old Style.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mandy asked.

“Fuck no.” he said emphatically. After eleven years in the Milkovich house, Mandy knew that the world was a rough place, but he didn’t want to tell her horror stories. “I want you to tell me what’s going on here. How’s school?” 

“Did you kill anybody? Daddy says in prison you gotta kill the faggots or you’ll get raped.” Mandy said matter-of-factly, sipping her beer and flipping mindlessly through TV channels. It was midnight and there was nothing but infomercials on their basic cable. 

“No, I didn’t kill anybody. I busted a couple of heads thought. This one prick thought he was gonna steal my socks. It was fucking cold at night.” Mickey curled his toes against the cushions, appreciating the warm blankets Mandy had covered them with. She didn’t miss that and the edges of her mouth quirked up in a tiny smile before she resumed her mission. 

“So nobody tried to rape you?” Mickey wondered if he should be worried about Mandy’s rape obsession, but his head was starting to swim from the alcohol and he didn’t want to shake himself sober and deal with serious shit his first night free. 

“No Mandy. Nobody raped me.”

“Did you rape anybody?”

“No bitch! Nobody got raped!” He raised his voice hoping to put her off the questions. Isaiah crossed his mind and he wondered what Mandy would say if he admitted that even though he wouldn’t called it rape, he had definitely had plenty of sex in juvie. He opened his mouth and shut it again, deciding to keep it to himself, but Mandy never missed anything.

“Spill it.”

“Spill what?”

“Don’t bullshit me Mickey. Tell me what you were about to say.” Mickey stared at her for a long minute, sipping his beer to buy himself some time. After a moment under Mandy’s unrelenting gaze, he realized there was no way out.

“I mean, nobody raped me, but there was this one guy and we kinda . . . you know. . . “He trailed off, unable to say the words, not here, where they would get him killed. Ironic that he would feel safer in fucking prison than in his own house.

“Was he, like, your boyfriend?” Mandy’s eyebrows looked like they were going to crawl into her hairline. Mickey released the breath he’d been holding, praying to whatever gods might exist that she would run screaming from the room and clue Terry in.

“Not really.” His response was non-committal. “I mean, its jail. Not really the place for romance, but the sex was pretty good.”

“So, are you like . . . gay?” She asked. Mickey’s jaw locked shut as he downed the last swallow of his beer and he got up off the couch. “Mickey, I won’t tell anyone.” 

Mickey didn’t look at her as he walked away. She heard his door shut and sighed, she clearly wouldn’t be getting any more out of him tonight. She shut the TV off and downed her own beer, belching her annoyance as she passed her brother’s room. 

“Bitch” He shouted through the door. She smirked and ignored him, responding only with the slamming of her own bedroom door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love some feedback. Informative, critical, encouraging, whatever! Just let me know how it is?


	3. They Grow Up So Fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that some of my Mandy may come off as older than the 11/12 that she is in the first few chapters, my belief is that Mandy has probably been treated like an adult in her house for a very long time. Juggling being woman-of-the-house with enduring puberty and her developing sexuality all at once was probably a bitch. Hence the beautifully complex character that Mandy can be, if we dig a little. This is largely Gallavich through Mandy's eyes, but I want to do her justice as well. It's a balancing act that I hope I can pull off. Feedback is always welcome!

Mickey lay in bed and stared at the ceiling half the night. Of fucking course he wouldn’t be able to sleep on his first night home, in his own bed, without his fucking dad in the house to keep him up in fear. Fucking Mandy and her big mouth. Why’d she have to go and make something out of it? It was just sex. Might as well pick someone to bang if you were gonna be in jail, or someone was gonna pick you whether you liked it or not. 

Well, maybe Terry has a point. Could have just beaten the shit out of anybody that tried to touch.

But, and Mickey would never admit this to anyone, he had liked it. Maybe because he’d banged that freaky bitch, Angie, a couple of times and she liked to put her fingers up his ass. The first time he’d nearly flipped his shit when she tried it. Shouting about how he wasn’t a faggot and nothing was going up there. The next time though, they were high as hell and she snuck it up there before he knew what hit him. He had never come so hard in his life. Hell, half the time when he fucked Angie, or he fucked anyone else for that matter, he gave up on getting off. After that he’d opened his mind up a little, praying to god the bitch kept her mouth shut because even if he was fucking chicks, if Terry knew about that shit he’d have strung Mickey up for being queer so fast nobody could have stopped him. 

Mickey tossed and turned and argued with himself, berating himself for saying anything to Mandy, until the light was filtering in the windows. He heard his brothers in the kitchen, yelling for Mandy to make some eggs while they got ready for work. They had all dropped out at that point. Iggy was in school before he got locked up, but he would be through before he got out. Mickey knew he was gonna have to drag his ass back to school but he couldn’t bring himself to do it on a Friday, so he waited until the noise abated and he was pretty sure everyone was gone before he rolled out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen. 

 

When Mickey wandered in, Mandy didn’t say anything. She kept her coffee in her hands and her eyes trained on her favorite brother as he grabbed a fork and the pan, not bothering with a plate. Several bites in, he must have finally felt her eyes on him because he turned around.

“What the fuck are you looking at?”

“Nothin’, “she said, propping her feet in a chair. “Just wondering if you’re ever gonna answer my question.”

“Fuck off bitch” Mickey grumbled, throwing the pan and fork in the general direction of the sink.

“Why’d you bring it up if you didn’t want to talk about it?”

“I didn’t bring it up. I shut my mouth and you dragged it out of me.”

“You thought about bringing it up first, and I only had to ask you like once. You didn’t even make me work for it.”

“What’s your point?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“No” Mickey stormed out of the kitchen but Mandy remained, sipping her coffee and scanning the morning headlines. She listened until she heard the door to Mickey’s room shut behind him before dragging her ass out of the chair and cleaning up after the house full of men who thought that was why she existed. She turned the problem of Mickey over in her head. She knew that he would probably never give her any details, but she could piece some things together. 

She knew he was scared of Terry knowing what had happened. She didn’t think it had been “just sex” because he was in Juvie, it wouldn’t have bothered him that deeply if it was so easily brushed aside. He was young, and probably confused. That’s what the older women in the neighborhood were always saying about young people in relationships. ‘They just don’t know what they want at that age’ and that kind of shit. Mandy had never known Mickey to not know what he wanted, but they were just kids. On the verge of womanhood herself, she didn’t usually feel like a kid. She’d been taking care of her house full of men since she could be trusted to operate the stove without burning the house down, which was right after she learned to shoot with precision that would impress a drill sergeant. But she was learning that she had a lot to learn. There was a boy in class whose smile made her stomach do flip-flops, and she didn’t know why. She wondered if that was how Mickey felt, or if it really was purely sexual. He was a man after all, and weren’t they supposed to be all about sex? She didn’t know what was going on in Mickey’s head, but she knew there was more to it than he was telling her, and that she needed to get to the bottom of it.

She set the last plate in the drain rack and threw a stolen roll of ground beef into the fridge to defrost before grabbing her bag, that boy walked past the house on his way to school, maybe she could walk with him if she hurried. 

“You’re on probation asshole!” She shouted, slamming her hand against Mickey’s door as she passed it, “Go the fuck to school”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This a tiny baby of an update. Please forgive me for the delay, excuses in the end notes but you probably don't care. No warnings, gossip and promiscuity but nothing graphic. Hoping to pull myself out of the funk I've been in for the past three months and update this regularly. This is the most-read of any writing I've ever published, so thank you all for reading!

By the time Mandy was sixteen, she had a reputation. She knew what guys liked, and how to get what she wanted out of them in return. She knew the bitches called her a slut, there had been half a dozen rumours of pregnancy and STDs, and about a million about who she’d fucked and who she hadn’t. None of that shit bothered Mandy. She was enjoying herself, and the sex, and the money she always had on hand from pawning the shit she snuck out of their houses in her pockets. The guys in her house didn’t think about things like tampons when they robbed the Kash & Grab for their dinner, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, right?  
She can make any guy anywhere notice her at any time, and she feels powerful. Any guy except Ian Gallagher. She thinks wistfully, pretending to stare out the window as she checks out the redhead from the corner of her eye. He’s been walking past her house every day for years on the way to school, the Gallaghers are dysfunctional, but not like the Milkovich’s, she wishes her family pulled together like theirs. Ian was tough, and looked great in his ROTC uniform. I would love to get him out of that uniform after school.   
Mandy chewed her lip and puzzled over how to get Ian’s attention. I wouldn’t even steal from him. He’s the only guy here I would actually like to date. He doesn’t even know I’m alive.   
She knows he spends most of his afternoon at the Kash & Grab, and he’s usually alone there. That’s why her brothers love to lift shit from there, no security, and Kash is a total wuss. The bitch wife only hangs around long enough to rip his ass for letting them steal, then she’s gone again.   
I wonder if I should change after school, or if he would notice? I should probably just be casual. I can just talk to him. Maybe he’ll watch a movie with me or something. That’s what guys say when they want in your pants, why can’t I use it on them?

 

If Mandy knew anything, it was guys. Too bad she didn’t know ahead of time what total shit this plan would go to. She would have just fucked the football team again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really, really sorry that I let this sit for three months. Usually if I'm going to take a break, I at least warn anyone who might be reading. Basically, after I published the last chapter, the finale happened and Gallavich broke up, I was pissed and stopped watching the show (my shitty internet connection was making it nearly impossible to watch the episodes when it was all I wanted to do. I wasn't gonna fight the connection for two hours per episode just to see that. So I haven't watch anything past 5.2 except a few youtube compilations of Gallavich. Then I fell into a bit of stress-induced depression and wanted to do nothing but sleep in all of my spare time. I'm gonna try to buckle down and see it so I can make this story accurate, but I also started working full time, which give me about 1/3 of the free time I had before, and it's summer so my younger siblings are home all day every day, which means I don't have time to sit around and watch TV shows that aren't age-appropriate for them because we share bedrooms and I can't keep them up at night etc. This is my final semester of my Undergrad Degree, but I'm taking half my normal class load so I should have some time after I go back to school. 
> 
> So TL;DR: I'm going to try to catch up on Shameless, and get this story back on track, but it may be September before that's even possible.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm out of excuses. I'm terrible at time-management and I haven't touched this story in six months and I'm sorry. I'm still not caught up on Shameless, and I may have to do some re-watching to get my timelines straightened back out because it's been almost a year. But I swear I'm going to finish this fic eventually.

Mandy had though it was brilliant when she tearfully pled with Mickey to beat the living shit out of Ian Gallagher. Who cared if she’d lied? Maybe he hadn’t hurt her like she’d said, but he did hurt her pride and her brothers wouldn’t stand for that anyway.  
When Ian had confessed his situation, she’d thought it was brilliant to be his fake girlfriend. She loved hanging out with him, and not hearing new rumours about herself every five seconds.  
But now, as she stood and watched Ian tear Mickey’s room apart looking for Kash’s stolen gun, she was beginning to think she’d signed up for trouble. She knew that Ian wasn’t the kind to let what Mickey had done to Kash go, but she didn’t want to see what would happen if Mickey realized someone had been through his room. He got irrationally angry about things like that, although it stemmed from his very rational fear that his Uncle or one of his brothers would find something he didn’t want them to see, that the cat would be out of the bag, that dad would find out Mickey was gay.  
“Just go! I’ll put everything back!” She urged Ian out the door, hoping she had time to cover his tracks. She didn’t want Mickey hunting down Ian again, even if it wouldn’t be her fault this time.  
“Tell him ends now. No more messing with Kash. And tell him I want the gun back. Tonight” She knew Ian was trying to be threatening, but she knew her brothers were scarier and there was no way she was doing anything but covering up this intrusion and trying to keep them away from each other. 

 

“Dad, I’m making eggs.” Mandy called through the house, unsure if he’d eaten anything or just drunk everything in sight when he got home from prison the night before. He didn’t reply but he did groan his way off the couch and stumble to the door to Mickey’s room to use the restroom.  
“Mandy’s making eggs.” She heard as she passed through. “and put some clothes on, you look like a couple of faggots.” Mandy froze with an egg suspended in the air, wondering who was in Mickey’s room and saying a quick prayer to whoever might be listening that Terry wouldn’t push the issue further. She sighed in relief when the door to Mickey’s room shut and Terry continued to the fridge to dig for a beer. She finished making breakfast and positioned herself so she could see the door to Mickey’s room.  
Ian didn’t even look up as he left the house, but Mickey met her eyes when he surfaced a few moments later.  
“What did Ian want?”  
“He’s your boyfriend, why don’t you ask him.” He spat at her, almost mockingly.  
“He was asking for you yesterday, pissed because you hit Kash. Said something about a gun?”  
“Yeah, he woke me up with a fucking tire iron, I had to beat the shit out of him obviously.”  
“Yeah, I’m sure you did.”  
“Good for you son.” Terry grumbled, without turning his head away from the TV. “Don’t shit off of that fucking Gallagher.”  
“No sir” Mickey agreed loudly before turning back to Mandy and mouthing his confession “I gave it back.” Mandy just nodded in acknowledgment. She knew what had happened and she was already calculating all of the ways this could play out.  
“Fuck” was all she said as she dropped her head onto her arms on the tabletop, quite sure that no matter how this played out, it would be a massive fucking headache to deal with her brother and her fake-boyfriend being involved. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

Mandy noticed when Mickey started making runs to the Kash & Grab alone, and coming home blaming the “bitch wife” before grabbing a brother and heading out to actually rob someone else. She knew Linda didn’t spend that much time at the store, and Mickey was full of shit.

When she and Ian were doing homework, and he couldn’t even wait thirty seconds after Mickey came in to take a bathroom break, she noticed even as she nonchalantly reminded him to hold the handle down and asked about pizza-bagels. She just threw food in the oven, rolled her eyes and pulled Ian’s worksheet onto her lap, might as well make sure he got a good grade since he obviously wasn’t paying attention.   
Half an hour later, when the homework was done and she’d eaten half of the bagels by herself and started a game, Ian finally resurfaced.  
“Took you long enough” She observed dryly.   
“Yeah, your dad was in there forever.” She didn’t mention that she knew for a fact her dad hadn’t moved from he was passed out down the hall, or ask why Ian had hung out in Mickey’s room instead of coming back out with her while he waited. Instead, she passed a controller and focused on the screen, gathering some amusement from Ian’s awkwardness as Mickey grabbed the controller, and a bagel, and wormed his way next to Ian on the couch.   
“Shove over faggots” Mickey mumbled with his mouth full, and she wanted to roll her eyes at the irony. They settled in to play, Ian’s eyes bouncing to her every now and then, but mostly watching Mickey.  
She tried not to think about it, she knew Ian was only her fake boyfriend, but she really liked having a friend, if all he could think about was her brother every time he was over, it was going to ruin everything.  
The “Fuck” was internal this time as she tried to kick Mickey’s ass in the game.


End file.
